Parking Brake Question

[avdcav]

My rear brakes are 11" disc and seem to be working fine. But I have no
parking brakes.

On the caliper there is a lever that the parking brake cable attaches to. This thing does nothing no matter how much I turn it in either direction. Is this supposed activate piston motion upon pulling on the handle?

Both sides are useless.

As you can see I am already tired of looking at it. It's time to start
waking the neighborhood and driving.

[joyridin']

When you have the E-brake built in the caliper as yours seem to have, it does more than just act as an E-brake. It is also the rear brake adjustment. Over time, when the pads wear, the piston has a ratchet mechanism so the piston doesn't have to travel as far when the pad wears. Without this, your pedal will get really low after some point in time.

That picture is hard to see, but it doesn't look like they have the mounting for the cable.

[Clois Harlan]

I went thru trying to adjust those style of brakes a few years back and I finally opted for a new set of Explorer rear brakes which have both disc brakes for stopping and a small internal drum brake for the Emergency brake. They work great and the cost is fairly cheap from some of the ebay sellers.

Clois Harlan

Here is the more expensive version:

Wilwood High Performance Disc Brakes - Rear Brake Kit Product Number: 140-7139-P

[ccomt]

The center screw inside the caliper piston may be turning but not ratcheting. If this is the case, then the screw won't extend far enough to put clamping pressure on the pad. You may have to remove the caliper piston to check the ratcheting mechanism.

[Gaz64]

As well as the above, your lever doesn't appear to have a mechanical stop for on and off.
It needs to have this.

[avdcav]

Okay that was very helpful " To the junk yard I go'''

[tirod]

Doesn't look like any rear Ebrake caliper I've seen. Most have a spring attached to retract the cable and release tension. Ebrake calipers also have a flush piston with notches in it - a special tool is needed to screw it back in when replacing pads, it's basically a block or disc with matching pins.

As a few of my recent customers have learned to their regret, you cannot retract them with a C clamp like the fronts. Does bad things to the interior racheting mechanism.

Another alternative is using a rear disc with interior drum e brake that works inside the hat. That allows any choice of caliper that fits, and separates the functions. Of course, all that drives up unsprung weight.

Some rodders have gone so far as to install a disc under the driveshaft yoke of the final drive for e brake use. Lots of different ways to do things.